OTC Tiers — Upgrade Your OTC Tier

How to Remove the Stop Sign  

All OTC Pink companies are identified on www.otcmarkets.com as providing current information, limited information or no information based upon the availability of recent financial and disclosure information.

Your company may provide disclosure to the marketplace through a selected U.S. regulatory agency (such as the SEC or a Banking regulator), a qualified foreign stock exchange or directly through the OTC Disclosure & News Service, offered by OTC Markets Group.

NOTE: SEC reporting companies should be aware that information published through the OTC Disclosure & News Service will not be considered when determining the OTC Tier. The OTC Tier for reporting companies is based solely on information filed with the SEC's EDGAR system. Delinquent filers must deregister with the SEC in order to upgrade their OTC Tier using the Disclosure and News Service as described below.

Qualifications for the OTC Pink Current Information Tier  

Companies that make the information described below publicly available on a timely basis (90 days after fiscal year end for Annual Reports; 45 days after each fiscal quarter end for Quarterly Reports) qualify for the Current Information Tier.

Initial Qualification:

  1. Subscribe to the OTC Disclosure & News Service on www.OTCIQ.com to publish your financial reports and material news.
  2. Create the following documents, save them in PDF format and upload them via www.OTCIQ.com:
    • Annual Financial statements (Document must Include: Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, Notes to Financial Statements) for the previous two fiscal years. If these reports are audited, please attach the audit letter from the PCAOB registered audit firm. Each year’s Annual Financial statements should be posted separately under the report type “Annual Report” in www.OTCIQ.com.
    • Any subsequent Quarterly Reports since the most recent Annual Report.
    • The most recent fiscal period end report should also include information in accordance with the OTC Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines.
    • Financial reports must be prepared according to U.S. GAAP, but are not required to be audited to qualify for OTC Pink Current Information tier.
  3. If financial reports are not audited by a PCAOB registered audit firm:

Ongoing Qualification:

  1. For each Fiscal Quarter End, upload a Quarterly Report via www.OTCIQ.com within 45 days of the quarter end. (A separate quarterly report is not required for the 4th quarter.) The Quarterly Report should include:
    • Information in accordance with the OTC Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines.
    • Quarterly financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, Notes to Financial Statements). Financial reports must be prepared according to U.S. GAAP, but are not required to be audited.
    • No Audit Letter or Attorney Letter is required.
  2. For each Fiscal Year End, upload an Annual Report within 90 days of the fiscal year end. The Annual Report should include:
    • Information in accordance with the OTC Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines.
    • Annual financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, Notes to Financial Statements, and Audit Letter, if the financial statements are audited). Financial reports must be prepared according to U.S. GAAP, but are not required to be audited.
  3. If financial reports are not audited by a PCAOB registered audit firm, upload an Attorney Letter via www.OTCIQ.com complying with the Attorney Letter Guidelines within 120 days of the fiscal year end.

Financial Report Timeline for Maintaining Current Information (FY 12/31 Filers)

Fiscal Period End Date Report Type - Due Date
12/31/2012 Annual Report - 4/1/2013
Attorney Letter - 5/1/2013
3/31/2013 Quarterly Report - 5/15/2013
6/30/2013 Quarterly Report - 8/14/2013
9/30/2013 Quarterly Report - 11/14/2013
12/31/2013 Annual Report - 3/31/2014
Attorney Letter - 5/1/2014

*Companies following the Alternative Reporting Standard to maintain Current Information can file a Notification of Late Filing for an extension of 5 calendar days to file a Quarterly Report and 15 calendar days to file an Annual Report.

Qualifications for the OTC Pink Limited Information Tier  
Companies that make the information described below publicly available within the prior 6 months qualify for the Limited Information Tier.

  1. Subscribe to the OTC Disclosure & News Service on www.OTCIQ.com to publish your financial reports and material news.
  2. Create a Quarterly Report or Annual Report for a fiscal period ended within the previous 6 months, save it in PDF format and upload it via www.OTCIQ.com.  The Quarterly Report or Annual Report includes:
    • Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Total Number of Issued and Outstanding Shares.  Financial statements must be prepared in accordance with US GAAP, but are not required to be audited. (Please note that Cash Flow Statements are not required to qualify for the Limited Information tier; however, unless the financial statements include a Cash Flow Statement, no financial data will be included in the OTC Financials Data Service, which distributes company financial data to online investor portals and makes the data available on your company’s Financials tab on www.otcmarkets.com)

A company in the Limited Information tier, may, but is not required to, include information in accordance with the OTC Pink Basic Disclosure Guidelines.

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